Feeding
The first thing that you should know about feeding is that Boas and all other
snakes are cold-blooded. Snakes from tropical regions (including Boas) need some
kind of heat source to digest their food. Make sure that you have an ample spot
to sit on the warm side of the tank that remains at around 86-88 degrees. DON'T
raise the temperatures after feeding. Your Boa knows what to do, and it will do
the right thing.
What should I feed my boa?
What's the difference between a RAT and a MOUSE?
How do I know what an "appropriately sized" food item is?
Should I feed outside of my tank?
Can I feed more than one rat at a time?
How can I switch my Boa from mice to rats?
I've heard that Boas need to be fed living prey only. Is this
true?
Isn't it more natural to feed live prey?
I don't believe the stories about Boas dying from live prey.
Getting bit doesn't sound very likely. Why else shouldn't I
feed live prey?
How do I kill the rat before offering it to my snake?
How do I thaw a frozen rat?
My Boa didn't snatch the food from the tongs... what's wrong?
Can I re-freeze thawed prey?
My Boa will not eat pre-killed prey!
Is it okay if my Boa misses a feeding?
I swear, I've tried everything and he/she STILL won't eat!
What else can I try to get my snake to eat?
What should I feed my boa?
Feeding ONE appropriately sized RAT (not mouse) every feeding period is the
smartest way to raise your boa. For Boas that are 1 year and younger, feed them
once per week. For Boas that are 1-2 years, every 10 days is appropriate. Boas
that are over 2 years, every 14 days is sufficient. If you feed too much or too
little, you may cause irreversible damage to your boa and literally take years
off its lifespan.
What's the difference between a RAT and a MOUSE?
The difference is that rats are generally bigger, and rats are far more
nutritious. In many circumstances, Boas on mice will either grow very slowly, or
not grow at all. Many pet stores or breeders will feed mice so the Boas do not
get as big before being sold. Boas should get appropriately sized rats during
their appropriate feeding times, depending on their age. There is a very big
difference between the two.
You can usually tell the difference between the two at smaller sizes, visually,
as mice are generally smaller in relation to lifespan, and have a more pointy
nose. Rats usually have a pretty rounded head and are generally bigger. Any
supplier should know the difference, otherwise they shouldn't be supplying,
right?
Nutritional Information: http://www.rodentpro.com/qpage_articles_03.asp
Additional Info: http://redtailboa.net/forums/showthread.php?p=223999#post223999
How do I know what an "appropriately sized" food item is?
Take a look at your snake. Measure or estimate the fattest part of their body
and remember that measurement. If you're picking out rats by hand, get one that
is about the same size in girth, so the snake's body doesn't undergo too much
stress from trying to digest something bigger than it is. If you can fit your
hand around the rat at the same measurement that you could your snake, then you
should be fine.
If you do not have the luxury of picking out by hand, remember what size your
snake is on. Rats are classified accordingly (from smallest to largest): Pinkie,
Fuzzie, Pups, Weaned, Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large (or Jumbo), XXL, and
XXXL. Each size increase is about 1-2 inches in length, and incrementally
increasing in weight (from 10 grams up to 125 gram increases per size). An easy
way to tell the smaller ones apart is remembering that Pinkies do not have fur
yet, are about the size of a baby carrot, and are usually 1-4 days old. Fuzzies
have little to sufficient fur and are usually 10 to 13 days old. You will just
need to remember the sizes and see pictures for anything bigger. If you have a
baby snake, a good way to remember is that they will only need a pinkie rat
maybe once or twice. They will move up to fuzzies and be on them for a couple of
months. After that it varies, depending on the Boa. You should increase the size
of rat as your Boa grows, and remembering the size increases and feeding
appropriately sized items is VERY important.
Should I feed outside of my tank?
It's up to you. If you have some type of wood chip or other object in the tank
that can be ingested while eating, it's a good idea to feed in a separate bin.
If the Boa ingests something it can't digest, it'll cause some pretty big
problems and might lead to a very serious infection.
Otherwise, there's no problem with feeding in the tank if there are no loose
objects that could potentially be swallowed.
Can I feed more than one rat at a time?
You shouldn't. It's easier for the snake to digest only one prey item at a time.
If you have no other option you can do it, but it's not recommended.
How can I switch my Boa from mice to rats?
Buy 3 mice and 3 rats and store them in the same bag in the freezer (yes, they
should be frozen). After storing them for some time, feed one mouse to the Boa
(thawed first... see the next section for details). It should have exchanged
scents with the rats inside the bag, so it might taste or smell a little
different to him/her. The next week, try feeding a rat that has been stored with
the mice. The scent of the mouse should fool your Boa into thinking it's the
same thing it ate last time, but since it's a RAT this time, instead of a mouse,
it's much more nutritious, and you've fooled him/her for their own good! Feed
the remaining rats and dispose of the mice when all of them are gone. Your Boa
should readily accept rats from now on. Consult the section below for
information on feeding frozen/thawed prey.
Feeding Pre-killed prey
I've heard that Boas need to be fed living prey only. Is
this true?
NO. Absolutely not. In fact, feeding prey that is prekilled is both safer and
much more healthy for the Boa. There are endless stories about Boas being bit by
the prey (yes, it does happen more often than it should), and these Boas will
develop infections and get parasites and all sorts of life-threatening problems.
If you ever see a Boa with an unnatural lump on it, that's usually an infection
from getting bit by a mouse or rat.
Rat bite infection
If it's not treated immediately, it winds up being fatal in almost every case.
Isn't it more natural to feed live prey?
No. In the wild, a snake will take prey any way they can get it, whether it be living or already dead. However, the wild and captivity are not the same thing by any stretch of the imagination, and in no way should the wild environment be considered when housing a snake in captivity. In the wild, a snake is subject to disease, starvation, predators, natural disasters, and many other factors that put a snake's life in jeopardy. A captive snake lacks survival skills, a strong enough immune system, and food storage capacity to survive in an environment that does not suit their needs, such as the wild. Feeding a snake live because it's the way they eat in the wild is also putting your snake's life in jeopardy.
If you want to be a responsible keeper, shelter your snake from any type of disease, injury or other detrimental factors that may occur when feeding live prey. Please feed pre-killed, and preferrably frozen/thawed prey to avoid all serious health risks.
I don't believe the stories about Boas dying from live prey.
It might sound a little outlandish, but the actual truth is that feeding live
prey is endangering your Boa's life. No matter what precautions you take, the
odds of your Boa dying from live prey is at least 100 times more likely than
them dying from pre-killed or frozen and thawed prey. Please do not feed live
prey to your Boa. It is very harmful. If you don't believe us, click here (warning: not for weak stomachs).
Getting bit doesn't sound very likely. Why else shouldn't I feed live prey?
Mice and Rats often carry internal parasites that are lethal to snakes if not
killed properly. It's very common for a young Boa to die from parasites just
because the owner was reckless and careless enough to not take all precautions
before feeding. Young Boas in captivity do not have the immune system to battle
internal parasites, and it usually results in severe sickness or death. Prey
should ALWAYS be killed and frozen (if possible) before being offered. Of
course, frozen prey should also be thawed before being offered, and is the best
method to use.
How do I kill the rat before offering it to my snake?
If you HAVE to buy live rats and kill them, the best way is to put them in a
pillowcase and whack them against a wall. It sounds brutal, but a quick smack is
much more humane than having it be constricted of all air and being unable to
breath, as a snake must constrict its prey before trying to eat. If you have
access to Carbon Dioxide, you can put the rat into a chamber filled with CO2 and
it will die simply by falling asleep first, then dying from lack of oxygen. If
you have access to a freezer, you should freeze the prey for at least 7 days to
assure that all internal parasites are killed before it's offered to your snake.
How do I thaw a frozen rat?
It's a pretty simple process. However, don't try to take shortcuts, it could
also harm your snake. DO NOT thaw in the microwave. It causes for severe
imbalance of heat distribution to the rat and could kill your snake. Even though
it might feel slightly warm, parts of the rat inside could be over 300 degrees
and you wouldn't even know it.
The best way to do it is to pull the rat out of your freezer, place it in a
Ziploc bag and submerge it in warm (not piping hot) water. You can measure the
water temperature with your hand. If it's too hot to submerge your hand in it,
it's too hot for thawing. It might make the rat's stomach explode in the water
and it's a big nasty mess!
You should leave the rat submerged in the water for about 15-30 minutes
(depending on what size it is) to assure it's insides are also thawed
thoroughly. Once it's done thawing, take the bag out of the water but DON'T OPEN
THE BAG YET! This is a pretty good trick for stubborn feeders.
Take the bag with the rat inside it, some paper towels, and some tongs to the
Boa's tank. Open the door or lid to your Boa's home, and get its attention
however you feel necessary. Don't let it smell you too much or it might bite
your hand, thinking it's food. From there, take the rat out of the bag and roll
it dry on the paper towels. It's okay if the rat is sopping wet after taking it
out of the bag, just dry it off with some paper towels and it'll be fine. The
bag was there to keep the scent in (yes, it stinks), rather than keeping it dry.
Once the scent is released, the snake will be alerted and know that food is on
its way. Once the rat is dry, take it by the tail, using the tongs, and lower
it into the tank. Let the rat hover above the Boa's head for as long as it
takes. You should see the Boa smelling it with its tongue, and their body
slightly moving. Incase you were wondering, this is the Boa moving into a
striking position. Be patient and continue dangling the rat. The Boa should
snatch the rat right from the tongs! It is a bit scary at first, but this is the
way things should be done, and this is what will get you the best feeding
results. Besides, it's nothing more than a quick jump... nothing to get worried
over!
My Boa didn't snatch the food from the tongs... what's
wrong?
Boas can be tough to feed sometimes. A lot of the time they don't feel secure
enough to eat with someone watching, mostly because they won't know if you're a
predator or a friendly being. When they are eating, they have no other form of
defense, so they can get scared to eat with someone watching. If this happens,
simply set the rat down in an enclosed area (offering it to a Boa while he/she
is their hide is a good idea) and leave your Boa alone for a few hours. DON'T
PEEK! If you peek at them while they're trying to eat, they might stop and it
might scare them too much to eat the rat. You can leave the rat in there up to
12 hours if you want. If they don't take it after that, dispose of the rat and
try next week.
Can I re-freeze thawed prey?
It's up to you. There's usually no harm in re-freezing ONCE, but after that I
wouldn't recommend re-freezing and attempting to feed it to your snake. Most
will actually refuse to re-freeze previously thawed prey, as they might find it
to be a little gross to re-offer food.
My Boa will not eat pre-killed prey!
Nonsense! Every Boa will eat pre-killed prey, unless you have a Dumeril's Boa or
Sand Boa, which can be problematic. Both are a very uncommon breed of Boa, so
it's pretty unlikely that you have either of those if you're not sure what kind
yours is. Keep trying with the pre-killed prey. No matter if it's dead or alive,
a snake usually doesn't care. Food is food, and they'll take it any way they can
get it. Just make sure the rat has a strong rat-like scent and keep trying!
Is it okay if my Boa misses a feeding?
Yes, it's fine. It shouldn't happen often, but they should be okay if one is
missed occasionally due to shedding or sickness. Still, try to keep them on an
appropriate schedule for their age.
I swear, I've tried everything and he/she STILL won't eat!
If your Boa hasn't eaten for more than 3 weeks, take them to a reptile or exotic
pet vet, and they should be able to figure out what is going on.
Also, make sure you're not stressing him/her out too much! Did you try feeding
inside a closed box? Remember, a Boa won't eat if it's scared. While eating, a
Boa has no other form of defense, so they need to be reassured of their safety
before they start.
What else can I try to get my snake to eat?
If you've already tried feeding inside a box and releasing lots of scent before the rat gets into the tank (which should work), you may need to try a few more things to get a feeding response from the snake.
Some snakes need to feel or hear vibration before they understand that food is in their tank. Try dragging the rat's body along the substrate and passing by the snake a few times, and see if you get a response. You can also try stroking the side of the snake's body and making more passes at their face to see if they have any response.
If they still refuse to eat, you can try one more thing.
Try poking a hole in the rat to release blood, or even better, split the rat's skull with a knife and "brain" the rat. Blood and guts are like candy to a snake. They will rarely refuse a brained rat, or anything with feces or blood on it. Though it sounds a little gross, this is a great way to initiate a feeding response in any snake.
ASSURE that you are feeding in some place where they feel safe, and always try to feed in a dark, enclosed space, first. A snake should take a rat if they recognize the scent. Try to keep as much rat scent as possible while feeding.
